Syria: Kurdish-led forces edge into ISIL-held Manbij

US-backed Kurdish and Arab fighters advance into the Islamic State (IS) jihadist's group bastion of Manbij, in northern Syria, on June 23, 2016.
Backed by air strikes by the US-led coalition bombing IS in Syria and Iraq, fighters with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance entered Manbij from the south, a monitoring group said.
/ AFP PHOTO / DELIL SOULEIMAN

Aleppo, Kurdish and Arab fighters of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have overrun a key road junction in the south of Manjib city, an ISIL stronghold, after capturing nearby grain silos overnight, a monitoring group has said.

The progress against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) came on Saturday, two days after the alliance fighters entered the key city.

“The grain silos overlook more than half of Manbij. SDF fighters can climb to the top and monitor the city,” said Rami Abdel Rahman, the Observatory chief.

The Raqqa Revolutionaries Brigades – one of the Arab components of the Kurdish-dominated alliance – confirmed that SDF forces had seized the silos and pushed into the city.

The Mills Roundabout lies less than two kilometres from the city centre.

The Observatory said ISIL and the SDF were locked in intense street fighting as ISIL tried to defend their positions.